header-logo header-logo

17 September 2019 / Michael Zander KC
Categories: Features , Brexit , Constitutional law
printer mail-detail

What odds on Boris Johnson losing the Supreme Court case?

Michael Zander QC on the strength of the argument that proroguing Parliament was unlawful

Retired Supreme Court Justice Lord Sumption has predicted that his former colleagues would probably hold that the prime minister’s prorogation of parliament was not justiciable. That was my view too. But having read Lord Pannick’s written case for Gina Miller, the lead appellant, I have changed my mind. I now think there is a fair chance that the decision will go the other way and reverse the unanimous decision of the Divisional Court given on 6 September by the Lord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls, and the president of the Queen’s Bench Division.

Lord Pannick’s 25-page argument (see the Supreme Court’s website) proceeds in stages:

  • The legal principle of parliamentary sovereignty requires that the executive must comply with the enacted will of Parliament. It is implicit in that legal principle that there must be legal limits on the power of the executive to prevent Parliament from sitting so that
If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Dual-qualified partner joins as head of commercial property department

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Firm announces appointment of next chair

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Director joins corporate team from the US

NEWS
What safeguards apply when trust corporations are appointed as deputy by the Court of Protection? 
Disputing parties are expected to take part in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), where this is suitable for their case. At what point, however, does refusing to participate cross the threshold of ‘unreasonable’ and attract adverse costs consequences?
When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
back-to-top-scroll